So I'm helping Cindy...

Occasionally I get to change roles and join Cindy on her photo shoots. I'm basically her equipment bag boy :) Last weekend I was with Cindy at the beach as she was photographing an engaged couple. I was trying to get creative and carve the couple's wedding date in the sand for a photo. As I did a wave came in and drenched my tennis shoes, socks and jeans bottoms. Afterwards she took me to dinner. I left a trail of sand and saltwater everywhere I stepped.

But we had the most amazing sunset that night. After a year of following sunsets (see blog below) this may have been the best.

Fun at Home

Some of the random things I got to do over sabbatical

• Read an entire book in one sitting beside a High Sierra river
  
• Took my daughter on a date to a Broadway production of Phantom
  
• Got my motorcycle license
  
• Sputtered around Poway on a borrowed Vespa
  
• Began doing our own yard work
  
• Ate outside a lot
  
• Drove historic Highway 395 with the top off our 1973 Porsche
  
• Drove historic Highway 101 with the top off our 1973 Porsche
  
• Went to a charming Bed and Breakfast in La Jolla with my wife
  
• Got to be "customer of the week" at Peet's Tea House
  
• Drank a lot of tea
  
• Hiked the Torrey Pines cliffs
  
• Touched a 12 foot Python (on purpose)
  
• And a bunch of other stuff

I've been tagged

I’ve been "tagged" by a friend, Jenetta, from church. I need to answer the following questions:

What was I doing 10 years ago?

Wow, that seems like a decade ago. Fairly new to San Diego we had three kids 7 years old and under. We were still struggling to let go of our oldest son for a full day of school and over sending our daughter to kindergarten … excited about being in a new facility at church … discovering Padres baseball and planning a trip to Hawaii for the first time ever.

Things on my to-do list now: (OK, these are more like my values)

1. Seek to live as a channel of God's GRACE -- lavishly receiving it and lavishly expressing it.

2. Seek to live in the PRESENT tense -- enjoying all God has for me in the moment, and redeeming the time with others.

3. Seek to live by FAITH -- seeing the unseen God in my circumstances and trusting His sovereign control.

4. Seek to live in the SPIRIT -- relying on His power, direction, and joy.

5. Seek to put others before myself -- knowing that as I LOVE them I am loving myself and God.


Things on my to-do list for my lifetime: (in no particular order)

1.Travel to Europe with my whole family (scheduled this summer)
2. Celebrate 50 years of a great marriage (2037)
3. Own a VW bus again
4. Have croissants and strong coffee in a Paris sidewalk cafe (I don’t even like coffee)
5.Swim with dolphins
6.Visit Israel again
7.Successfully spend my whole career as a lead pastor at the same church
8.Have a role in one of my great grandchildren's weddings (that puts me at about 95 years old)
9. Coach a team for one of my grandkids
10. Own a vacation home
11. Continue to take our kids to Disneyland often even when they are adults
12. Continue to go to Yosemite at least once every year for the rest of my life
13. Celebrate 25 years of marriage with Cindy at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite
14. See a game at every professional baseball park in California, Washington, and Arizona. Also visit Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, and Wrigley Field
15. Have a bit part in a stage play that people pay money to see and have it run for at least a month
16. Retire where I can hear the ocean waves crash at night
17. Put the SHAPE Seminar online and have an international impact
18. When I retire, hand off a thriving, healthy, influential local church to a pastor to take it into the next season

Bad Habits:

1. Worry
2. People pleasing
3. Watching too much Padres baseball on TV

Places I've lived: (All time favorites in bold)

1. Lancaster, CA
2. Nottingham, ENGLAND
3. Milwaukee, WI
4. Sherman Oaks, CA
5. Lynwood, CA
6. Fountain Valley, CA
7. Santa Barbara, CA
8. San Francisco, CA
9. Pasadena, CA
10. London, ENGLAND
11. Laguna Beach, CA
12. Mission Viejo, CA
13. San Diego, CA

Things most people probably don't know about me:

1. I’ve never eaten a Churro
2. I love loose leaf tea
3. I am a big Jesus Christ Superstar the Rock Opera fan
4. I have a doctorate in Christian ministry and leadership
5. I can toss a pizza from a batch of homemade dough

Ok- so I need to tag some people now. Check their blogs in a few days to see if they did it :)

Jon
Daveed
Deyl
Paige
Ted
Josh
Ryan & Melissa
Kevin & Didi

An Experiment ... because my family doesn’t read my blog

OK, my family does read my blog sometimes. But they don’t need to because they already know about my life. So here’s a little experiment to test the scope and impact of this blog.

I bought some See’s Candy for my wife because she loves it and it’s fun to get it even when it’s not Christmas. I’ve hid it under the piano bench lid. If you know my wife well enough, call her and tell her to look in the piano bench for a little gift from me.

I am posting this on Nov 7, at 7:03 pm. Let’s see how long it takes for someone to call. 1 hour? 1 day? 1 week? If no one calls, I’ll eat the candy myself and post an early list of all my kids’ Christmas presents here too.

FINE PRINT: Courtesy rule: Do not call after 9 pm or before 8 am PST. But you can email her anytime. The experiment officially ends when I hear that she found candy.

Check back and I’ll let you know what happens.

_______________________

Update: Well, I woke up the very next morning and there was a box of See's candy on the kitchen table. Kudos go to Cindy Sutherland for sending my wife an email (In the middle of the night -- what was she doing up?). Way to go Cindy Sutherland! Honorable Mention goes to Janine Sellers who called all the way from Florida to tell Cindy to look under the piano bench lid. So it took about 12 hours for the message to get to my wife. And we all learned a valuable lesson about the 24/7, global reach of the web.

Best BBQ in Georgia

So I'm still trying to digest all I'm getting out of this conference but I did have lunch at an amazing BBQ place. In addition to the pulled pork sandwich I had Brunswick Stew which is like a BBQ chili with beef, chicken, pork, potatoes, corn and tomatoes - Wow! Part of what is incredible about this place is that they smoke the meat in the shed behind the restaurant (see photo below) - the real deal. If I'm ever in Georgia again, I'm eating here.

Sweet bus

A little tribute I put together to the groovy life in the bus.

Pacific Coast Highway Beach Bus Tour

Last week we spent a couple days as a family in our 71 VW bus. We called it our PCH Summer Bus Beach tour as we hit the beaches in San Diego and Orange Counties. When was the last time the biggest decision you had to make was, "What beach should we go to now?" Or "Where can we get some beach burgers or chocolate shakes?"

Now I'm back to a more complicated life -- planning my preaching series for the next year. Turns out my first message series will be on "Simplify". And with that in mind, here's a couple photos of our trip:

Neck and neck

OK, I've been running a random poll for the last couples weeks to determine whether I should wear a tie for Easter. The race is too close to call right now. You can vote in the column on the right.

Update 4-8-07 : I wore a purple tie on Easter morning. As of late Saturday night the purple tie was leading the survey by one vote... Thanks for participating (all 41 votes); the survey has now been archived.

Afternoon at the Park

Cindy and I enjoyed a much needed day off today. Marriage is an investment of time. The best conversations are unforced. I'm a fortunate man.

It's time for some of you guys out there to come to church

No offense. I just thought this was clever.